mostly wandering around
hung out at lahksmi bar
and a great Asian restaurant next door
I encountered a few musicians and….prometheus
just a shadow you see that he’s chasing
Berlin 4 & 5
Category: On tour October 2024
Berlin/3
After being washed out with rain
I went to a blues jam session
at urbaneck a bar open 24/7
played with a spirited group for about 1/2 hour
cathedral bells, Spanish stroll, doom & gloom, animal
And give the devil his due
Photos courtesy of Mamcasz
Berlin /2
“If you’ve got no fear of being lost
you’ve got no need of being saved”
Berlin is huge and it’s easy to get lost
i was walking toward the brandenburg gate
and I found this statue of Goethe
are there statues of artists in New York?
presidents, mayors ,a bull but an artist?
Soon after I arrived at the brandenburg gate
last time I was here was in 2023 with The Rolling Stones tour
The gate is the same only I have changed
in 1988 or 1989 before the wall was torn down
bonnie burns and I travelled through checkpoint charlie
sang let my people go iin an empty park
and tried unsuccessfully to spend all the money
we were forced to change to enter east berlin
Berlin night 1
From Prague to Berlin is more than a 5 hour bus ride
but that is the way of the road
Prague was indeed mythical and late at night mystical
Berlin is trying to live in hell just like New York used to be.
before it changed it’s name again to new Zurich
It is dirty, full of traffic, languages religions restaurants museums
diplomats cops and robbers
and it takes ages to get somewhere, anywhere and it is getting expensive
’first we lose manhattan then we lose Berlin’
At night young people are getting dressed up
young women showing lots of skin
playing guitars and singing their own songs
of loneliness, bravura questionings,insecurities
in a time without the possibility of eternity
some people would tell me that I could be famous after I was dead-
you always want to hear that…..but what does that mean today?
i mean eternity ain’t what it used to be
we all go on doing what we were doing before
assuming, hoping that what we do will have some meaning
help folks in some way to inspire,survive or even thrive
”I was always too stubborn ever to be governed by enforced insanity
Someone had to reach for the stars, I guess it was up to me”
a.i. has already taken over don’t kid yourself
but is it more pervasive
than when there were only about 3 channels
and how they ignored the anti war protests until they didn’t
and the only paper telling the truth was Izzy stone’s weekly
and you got more inspiration from the Jefferson airplane and bob dylan
and peter Paul and Mary and the Grateful Dead
and Tom Paxton and pentangle and Aretha franlklin
and the temptations and the moody blues
and Joni Mitchell,Maria mulduar and
The doors and jimi hendrix
and of course the most subversive sound of them all….
the ooh oohs of The Rolling Stones sympathy for the devil.
in the last few months I have been getting audiences in Brussels to
howl with me on all along the watchtower
and shriek with me on cathedral bells
“it wouldn’t surprise me if a raven started squawking”
the munch scream is now audible
and will continue to grow
Prague night 7 / other visits over the years
IN PRAGUE I WAS PLAYING ON CHARLES BRIDGE
BUT NOBODY STOPPED, NOBODY EVEN BLINKED
BUT THEN A FLOCK OF BIRDS GATHERED AROUND
LISTENING TO MY SOUNDS AS THEY CIRCLED OVERHEAD
ST. FRANCIS YOU WOULD HAVE BEEN PROUD
NOW THERE’S BIRDS DANCING IN MY DREAMS
& I’M SINGING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
O I TANGO & I WALTZ WITH MY GUITAR ON THE STREET
PLAY MY TUNES TO ANYONE THAT I MEET
A TOUCH OF GRACE, A DAB OF STRANGE
FRED ASTAIRE YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN PLEASED
FOR ONCE YOU TWO-STEPPED & DOFFED YOUR HAT
PASSING ME IN THE HALLWAY BUT THAT’S
JUST A FACT OF MY DREAMS
NOW I’M HIGHSTEPPING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
CAKEWALKING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
A LITTLE FREESTYLE ROCK, A LITTLE CHA CHA CHA
A LITTLE TWIST & SHOUT, A LITTLE LAMBADA
DANCING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
from my song Hitchhiking , (my way back to you)
I was in Prague six years ago, a day after my birthday
and I was at The Rolling Stones concert at the airfield
The next day my tent broke and it was a big Czech holiday
and didn’t think I would be able to find an open store
I went into town to have a coffee and a couple sat at the next table
And I asked them where I could get a new tent
they told me where and then said that they were going out of town
for a few days and would I like to stay at their place?
of course,I said gratefully , and they gave me the keys to their apartment
just like that.
now, that was a nice surprise birthday present
and that is the spirit of Prague!
Prague is majestic and mystical
it looks and feels like a great capital
and it was
although it doesn’t seem to be
in the history we were taught in schools
neither in the USA or many parts of Europe
the only other kingdom it reminds me of is the one in London
histories here in Prague say that all the kings of europe
descended from here
to walk in Prague is to enter another epoch
not as intense as a stay in marrakech
but still enveloping
heyme and I went out for a last drink and heard
The Rolling Stones at the duende
a bar not far from Charles bridge
until the next time
tot ziens
Prague night 6
After saying hello to the band
and asking them to send my greetings to Bob
I went over to the venue to play again.
I played acoustically because of technical problems.
it started to feel just like the old days but with less mobility.
i enjoyed myself improvising on like a rolling stone
and playing one more cup of coffee
which was my gateway tune to Dylan
also played a few Willie deville songs
as well as my own songs
I got a ticket again
and stood up near the side of the stage for the entire show
watchtower, masterpiece, desolation row ,
every grain of sand
again the highlights
after the gig I went out for pizza-
New York style pizza slices exist in Prague
i was hoping to show a video
but the people who took them
have not sent them……yet
Prague/night 5
Concert 2 of the ‘never too late ‘bob dylan European tour 2024
what a wonderful welcome I received
when I arrived at the seat from the family that had an extra ticket 4 me
thank you so much!
finally I enjoyed bob’s piano playing.
he’s got lots of piano space
the sound is great voice clear
highlights for me were
masterpiece -with a great new arrangement to dance to,
desolation row with its apocalyptic imagery
and every grain of sand a beautiful prayer/psalm
Prague night 4
Last night I played before the first show
of bob Dylan’s 2024 european tour.
Before I started I ran into some people I knew from years ago
including a Hungarian man
who came up to me during the 2003 stones tour
and told me he had seen me with Dylan in 2000.
I played but the weather was damp and cold and I was alone
and I really didn’t enjoy it very much.
I did do a Sufi spin and It was good enough apparently
that a man with 3 of his teenage children
offered me a ticket for the following night’s show
which they had come a night too early for…..
sooo I will hear the show tomorrow night
Prague night 3
ate at a tasty Indian restaurant with Heyme and Tami
then took a walk with Heyme over the bridge to the old town
Prague/night 2
played a jam session at medium 43
looking for musicians to play with me this weekend
alex, nick, anton,david
later I went over to metro comedy club
in the last few months I have been telling stories at poetry readings
and now comedy clubs
last night was a young audience and this story fell flat
so I was playing on the street in nyc one day and I was in a foul mood.
a man threw some change into my guitar case and said
” I used to do that”
without looking up I said “yeah, and what the fuck do you do now?
silence…….and then I looked up…. A stocky black man with a big black
cowboy hat stood there, tipped his hat and said
the name….is…..Bo Diddley
